Bose has quite a history with cars. The company has been involved with car-audio since the 80’s. The company has now announced their first ever Active Sound Management solution for cars: Bose QuietComfort Road Noise Control (RNC).

Bose QuietComfort Road Noise Control: What is it?

Bose claims that adding Bose QuietComfort RNC to they already available Engine Harmonic Cancellation (EHC) and Engine Harmonic Enhancement (EHE), car-makers have access to the “most comprehensive and effective set of technologies for managing sound inside cars, trucks, and SUVs”.

Car manufacturers have struggled with the issue of how to control noise inside vehicle cabins for the longest time. Noise can be caused by driving over rough roads, engine noise and many other external factors. Conventionally, manufacturers have added thick insulations to vehicle bodies, used customised tires or many other measures that affect drive quality and fuel efficiency.

“For years, we’ve been asked why we can’t simply adapt our noise-cancelling headphone technology to vehicle cabins for a quieter driving experience but we know it’s much more difficult to control noise in a large space like a car cabin compared to the relatively small area around your ears. However, through research advances and our relentless efforts to solve tough problems, we’ve achieved a level of road noise reduction that sets Bose apart from competitive offerings.”

Bose QuietComfort Road Noise Control: How does it work?

Sensing Road Noise

Bose QuietComfort RNC uses a combination of accelerometers, the company’s own signal-processing software, microphones and the vehicle’s audio system to electronically control unwanted sound.

Processing Road Noise

Accelerometers mounted on the vehicle body enable a Bose algorithm to continuously measure vibrations that create noise. This information is then used to calculate an acoustic cancellation signal, which is delivered through the vehicle’s speakers to reduce the targeted noise.

Reducing Road Noise

Microphones placed inside the cabin monitor residual noise levels, allowing the system to adapt the control signal for optimised performance over different road surfaces, while automatically adjusting over time as the vehicle ages.

Bose QuietComfort Road Noise Control: When will you have access to it?

Bose says it will start collaborating with manufacturers during the vehicle development stages to custom-engineer QuietComfort RNC into their cars. Tuning adjustments can be made quickly and easily throughout the development cycle, and the solution is available for vehicles with or without Bose premium sound systems. QuietComfort RNC is planned to be in production models by the end of 2021.